Loved ones remember Bachman as kind, giving
On Wednesday, March 26, the day Lillian Bachman died in a vehicle crash, she was headed to a meeting of the sewing group at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Saxonburg, where she was a member for over 65 years.
“I’d say she was a follower of Jesus,” said Lillian’s sister, Carolyn Paulsen. “She taught Sunday school and did many, many things at her church. She was involved in a sewing group.”
“She loved her Lord and sought to serve him.”
For a large chunk of her life — 35 years — she worked at the Du-Co Ceramics plant in Saxonburg as a factory supervisor. However, Bachman became more well-known in the community for what she did away from the job.
“She’s the kind of person that never, ever met a stranger,” said Bob Bachman, one of Lillian’s five children. “She would walk up and talk to anybody and do anything for them. She was such a wonderful person. She never had a cross word for anybody.”
This is reflected in the many community, volunteer and nonprofit organizations in which she took part during her life. These include the Saxonburg American Legion Auxiliary, where she served for 70 years; the Saxonburg Woman’s Club, where she was a member for over 50 years; the Friends of the Saxonburg Library, now the South Butler Community Library; and the Order of the Eastern Star; among others.
“She was a very giving, volunteering person, and she was straight-on,” Paulsen said. “If she had a problem with you, she would give it to you face-to-face.”
For many of these organizations she served as treasurer, which gave her the nickname “The Money Lady.”
“I always ended up as the secretary to these places, but she was always the treasurer,” Paulsen said.
This generosity also extended to Bachman’s time away from the public eye, according to her son.
“Growing up and having her as a mother was the best,” Bob said. “We weren’t rich, but Mom made sure we never went without. We had so many great times growing up. I’d say we were just like the Cleaver family on TV.”
Growing up, Lillian Bachman was one of eight children raised by William and Mildred Wise on a large farm. The oldest and youngest of those children were born so far apart that Paulsen says she didn’t truly get to know her own older sister until she became an adult.
“Our parents had three children and then they had two sets of twins in 18 months. I was 5 when she got married,” Paulsen said. “I really did not know ‘Lil’ as my big sister, and then we made up for lost time and she and I grew very close.”
Bachman’s immediate family was large, and so was the amount of tragedy surrounding it. She became an early widow when her husband, Herbert Bachman, died in 1983.
She also outlived one of her five children, as her youngest son, Gary, died of cancer in 2020 at the age of 69. Three of her brothers — George, James and Carl Wise — also preceded her in death.
“We’ve had a lot of deaths in our family,” Paulsen said. “She was a very strong person. She loved her kids, but she knew life had to go on.”
